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Post by doubledog on May 2, 2024 9:56:58 GMT -6
btw, if you want to submit a ticket at UA use Google and search "uaudio submit ticket" - for the life of me I cannot find this link otherwise and all of the pages force you to go through the bots. Like I said, a purposeful tactic.
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Post by Quint on May 2, 2024 10:01:56 GMT -6
The "bot" agent is clearly the first contact that everyone gets online. And it's horrible. I've had a less than 30% success rate of getting anything useful. In fact UA has made it nearly impossible to find the page to submit a ticket, and even if you do have a ticket it used to be easy to find those existing tickets. Now I feel like they've hidden that too. Also when you got an email, there was a link to those tickets included. Not anymore. This is a specific tactic (used by other companies as well) to steer you to AI bots that mostly just result in an endless loop of frustration. It absolutely reduces the number of calls/tickets (because customers just want to kill themselves) and then the management of said companies declare victory and reduce the number of human support because the robots have won the war. And the truth is, the consumer suffers. And we can complain but it falls on deaf ears that only see dollar signs and they will never admit the truth (their support sucks and the reason they have less tickets is because they've made it impossible to reach them). Prove me wrong. You know I'm right. I groan every time I have to deal with UA CS now. It's painful. And it takes forever. It's painful to the point that I just mostly don't do it anymore. It's largely a waste of time, so I give up. UA knows this is how many people will respond to the situation. So good for UA. Less support to deal with. Bad for customers. The thing is, I absolutely paid for the old level of support when I bought the various Apollos and most of the UA plugins I own. So where is the customer service that I PAID for? What is this Mickey Mouse shit that has replaced it? It's a bait and switch, as far as I'm concerned. The only other avenue a customer has is to go and try to get help on the UAD forum. But that doesn't come without it's own challenges as well. The UAD forum can be frustrating, to say the least.... |
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Post by chessparov on May 2, 2024 10:24:19 GMT -6
I will always stand behind our hard working Support agents. They do the lord's work as they say.
'Agents' says it all.
Just skimmin'  |
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Post by FM77 on May 2, 2024 10:31:47 GMT -6
Support uses software called Zendesk. Their terminology is "agent" for each seat. Not sure what you thought agents meant, but now you know. Thanks for the clarification I was so confused about what 'support agent' meant. Boy was I way off. I am glad you clearly see where I went off the rails  I supposed it is no worse than the replies I get from from said 'support agents'. 'You must restart your computer to finish the installation', here is a video showing you how...
UA used to have customer service. And a human to call. And people with experience using the equipment to decipher the request. Now it has 'support agents' with a data base. That is what I meant. But matters not. I am free of the company. Last hardware removed this morning. All folders deleted. Clean house, feels good.
But you are right, the 'support agents' do the lords work. And similar to others who do the lords work, they only work one day a week. 
The being finished with UA the company is legit, the rest is in jest. But it is unfortunate just how OK you are with the feedback you get about support.
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Post by Drew @ UA on May 2, 2024 10:42:57 GMT -6
Support uses software called Zendesk. Their terminology is "agent" for each seat. Not sure what you thought agents meant, but now you know. Thanks for the clarification I was so confused about what 'support agent' meant. Boy was I way off. I am glad you clearly see where I went off the rails I supposed it is no worse than the replies I get from from said 'support agents'. 'You must restart your computer to finish the installation', here is a video showing you how...
UA used to have customer service. And a human to call. And people with experience using the equipment to decipher the request. Now it has 'support agents' with a data base. That is what I meant. But matters not. I am free of the company. Last hardware removed this morning. All folders deleted. Clean house, feels good.
But you are right, the 'support agents' do the lords work. And similar to others who do the lords work, they only work one day a week.
The being finished with UA the company is legit, the rest is in jest. But it is unfortunate just how OK you are with the feedback you get about support.
I wish you nothing but the best in all your future creative endeavors. |
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Post by chessparov on May 2, 2024 12:07:36 GMT -6
Olde guy here Drew. If you can help with any influence with the "Powers That Be" at UA... IMHO many here would appreciate that. Unfortunately, the Dark Side of Technology diminishes the Human Element of interactive help. The preference of Corporate "Convenience" over high quality Customer Service. OK. Off my Soap Box. Chris |
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Post by andersmv on May 2, 2024 12:21:53 GMT -6
-(Grumpy old men wave fists at sky)
“UA plugins are too damn expensive!”
-UA blows out their entire catalog for pennies-
-(Grumpy old men piss into the wind)
“UA plugins are too damn cheap now!”
😂 you can’t make this stuff up. You can’t be bitter that 10-15 year old software is cheaper than when it came out. They’re probably about to come out with something new as well more than likely.
😂
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Post by kcatthedog on May 2, 2024 13:52:28 GMT -6
-(Grumpy old men wave fists at sky) “UA plugins are too damn expensive!” -UA blows out their entire catalog for pennies- -(Grumpy old men piss into the wind) “UA plugins are too damn cheap now!” 😂 you can’t make this stuff up. You can’t be bitter that 10-15 year old software is cheaper than when it came out. They’re probably about to come out with something new as well more than likely. 😂 Not bitter about that at all, what struck me as grossly unfair was ua letting the least invested clients get the very best price. So, next time you buy a car from the regular dealership you have been supporting for years, and the young guy beside you tells you he just bought an even better car than yours at about 70-80% less than you paid, ah you’ll be fine with that: right ? |
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Post by andersmv on May 2, 2024 14:03:18 GMT -6
-(Grumpy old men wave fists at sky) “UA plugins are too damn expensive!” -UA blows out their entire catalog for pennies- -(Grumpy old men piss into the wind) “UA plugins are too damn cheap now!” 😂 you can’t make this stuff up. You can’t be bitter that 10-15 year old software is cheaper than when it came out. They’re probably about to come out with something new as well more than likely. 😂 Not bitter about that at all, what struck me as grossly unfair was ua letting the least invested clients get the very best price. So, next time you buy a car from the regular dealership you have been supporting for years, and the young guy beside you tells you he just bought an even better car than yours at about 70-80% less than you paid, ah you’ll be fine with that: right ? A few things…. I’m not really fond of the car analogy here, but cars do devalue a significant amount as soon as they leave the lot. If that ever happened with a car, you got taken advantage of 😂. Not many 15 year old cars out there selling for the same money (I’m sure there exceptions). Again, the car analogy isn’t really fair here. The other thing I’ll never get behind is being mad that someone else is doing better than me. I paid for most of my UA plugins new, I’m sure I paid the $400 or whatever for the tape package when it came out. I really could care less if someone else got it cheaper this week, seeing as I think they’ve been out for well over a decade at this point. I just can’t get behind that mentality, or be irritated that people are getting better deals than me years later. Yes, I would be mad in your hypothetical car analogy. This is nothing like that. They’re discounting a lot of software that’s been around for a while (and quite frankly is still holding its own years later). I just don’t get it 🤷♂️ |
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Post by kcatthedog on May 2, 2024 14:24:25 GMT -6
I don’t get you either: at all.
Think you are trying to deflect my car point, which is an obvious example of deliberate purchase price inequality.
When UA decided to let people who had paid maybe $100, buy Ultimate 11 for under 2 grand, it could easily have offered the rest of its much more heavily invested clients, some kind of equivalent savings but didn’t and only offers them , a couple of year’s later, the opportunity to pay even more money.
We will not reconcile our differences of opinion about this.
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Post by FM77 on May 2, 2024 14:31:47 GMT -6
-(Grumpy old men wave fists at sky) “UA plugins are too damn expensive!” -UA blows out their entire catalog for pennies- -(Grumpy old men piss into the wind) “UA plugins are too damn cheap now!” 😂 you can’t make this stuff up. You can’t be bitter that 10-15 year old software is cheaper than when it came out. They’re probably about to come out with something new as well more than likely. 😂 That is not what this is about. You have missed the forest for the trees. It is about customer loyalty, not others doing well. That is short sighted. UA support for loyal / invested customers is truly dismal. It's nothing new which is why the low hanging grab for new clients is the current model, at least it seems that way.
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Post by Quint on May 2, 2024 15:09:55 GMT -6
If I could also add some nuance to this discussion... Forgetting for a moment about who paid what for what plugins back in the day or whom is loyal to whom, I think a distinction can be made purely on what existing customers were being asked to pay NOW for future purchases versus that which new customers were being asked to pay NOW for future purchases.
As an example, here somewhat recently (last year sometime), brand new customers were being offered to purchase U10 (or U11 or whatever it was at the time) for like $999. I on the other hand owned roughly 90% (~100 plugins) of the plugins in U10 (or U11 or whatever it was at the time), and you know what UA was offering me as an upgrade price to "complete the U10" bundle and purchase the remaining 15 or so plugins I didn't already own? $999.
So I paid what I paid back in the day and I honestly don't care if people are getting cheaper prices now, compared to what I paid in the past. I think you and I more or less agree there. However, for FUTURE purchases, I don't think it's unreasonable for an old customer to expect to be able to pay at least the SAME per-plugin price as everyone else, whether they be new, old, or otherwise. If a new customer is paying roughly $10 per plugin on a purchase today, why am I being asked to pay $60 per plugin for a purchase I'm also making today? How does that make sense?
And you know what, UA ultimately caved because they knew it was bullshit. UA handled this whole situation poorly, and created a lot of ill will among some older customers. UA is not going to get much credit for doing something that they only did because enough people complained about it. Maybe next time UA should lead with such offers to older customers instead of pissing them off with a "let them eat cake" attitude.
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Post by andersmv on May 2, 2024 15:14:14 GMT -6
People were literally complaining in here that UA is devaluing their brand by making things so cheap, I’m not missing the forest for the trees here 😂. We complained for years that the DSP ecosystem was old and being overtaken significantly by cheap, new computers. They started porting things to native and offered some pretty crazy hardware/software packages. Complaints about the plugins being old and expensive, they’re knocking prices significantly while also trying to pull in new users. Again, I see a company trying here, I’m legitimately sorry that a lot of you still feel this way. The reason I don’t get it is because I’ve probably gotten like close to 20 of their plugins for practically free in the last year, not to mention the massive discount I got from packaged hardware deals moving around Apollos and Satellites. Have y’all not been paying attention, or am I the only one that’s gotten some crazy good deals from UA the last year or two?
I’ve been on an Apollo since they came out, I bought one the week they were announced and have had one since. Stayed away from a lot of cool plugins because they were way too expensive and never really saw a good enough sale at any point. I’ve filled every single gap on my UAD system in the last year or so, and I doubt I’ve spent more than a few hundred dollars. Did you guys just want more stuff for free? I feel like they’re trying here and it’s just never going to be good enough unless they’re loosing money…
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Post by Quint on May 2, 2024 15:28:19 GMT -6
People were literally complaining in here that UA is devaluing their brand by making things so cheap, I’m not missing the forest for the trees here 😂. We complained for years that the DSP ecosystem was old and being overtaken significantly by cheap, new computers. They started porting things to native and offered some pretty crazy hardware/software packages. Complaints about the plugins being old and expensive, they’re knocking prices significantly while also trying to pull in new users. Again, I see a company trying here, I’m legitimately sorry that a lot of you still feel this way. The reason I don’t get it is because I’ve probably gotten like close to 20 of their plugins for practically free in the last year, not to mention the massive discount I got from packaged hardware deals moving around Apollos and Satellites. Have y’all not been paying attention, or am I the only one that’s gotten some crazy good deals from UA the last year or two? I’ve been on an Apollo since they came out, I bought one the week they were announced and have had one since. Stayed away from a lot of cool plugins because they were way too expensive and never really saw a good enough sale at any point. I’ve filled every single gap on my UAD system in the last year or so, and I doubt I’ve spent more than a few hundred dollars. Did you guys just want more stuff for free? I feel like they’re trying here and it’s just never going to be good enough unless they’re loosing money… "WE" are not a monolithic unit though. I don't share some of the complaints you've mentioned in your post, and I never did. I was fine with the prices I was paying back in the day (but I always waited for sales, and probably paid on average $40 to $50 per plugin, even back in the day), and would still be fine paying those prices now, provided that I still got all of the things I came to expect with paying those older, higher prices, such as proper customer service. That said, if UA is going to insist on having Mickey Mouse customer service going forward, yeah, I am going to expect to pay Mickey Mouse prices, going forward. It's a two way street. In any case, I never needed the plugin prices to come down from where they were previously at and certainly would never have wanted plugin prices to come down if it meant that things would happen as they have over the last few years. As for DSP, I also don't share the complaints you say you or "WE" had about DSP versus native. I think it's cool that they've started offering their plugins in native format, but the usefulness of DSP has been apparent to me for a long time, and is as apparent to me now as it has ever been. I too got into Apollos back when they first came out and, at least in my case, it was precisely because of the low latency capabilities of DSP. In any case, there is more nuance to all of this than you're acknowledging or realize. I'd go back up to my previous post to see what I'm talking about there. You and I were typing at the same time when we posted our last posts, so I imagine you did not see my comments on the nuance of the situation. In a nutshell, and speaking at least for myself, I'm not, nor have I ever asked to pay less than new customers for purchases being made today. However, I'm also not asking to pay MORE than than new customers for purchases being made today either. |
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Post by FM77 on May 2, 2024 17:03:02 GMT -6
People were literally complaining in here that UA is devaluing their brand by making things so cheap, I’m not missing the forest for the trees here 😂. We complained for years that the DSP There is no flame here, but I too am not part of the 'WE' you speak of. I don't relate any of the perspectives you perceive as the issue. It does seem that you yourself have not been affected by UAs practices, at least not negatively - therefor all is good in your orbit. That is what I meant by forest for the trees or short sighted. Your auto-biographical experience is completely legit, but does not speak for nor relate to 1000s of others. I have never complained about UAD prices and I have been a user for 2 decades. My primary challenges have been about hardware functionality and support. Or lack of. Matters not, I am liberated now, flashbacked to 2004, my pre UA days. There are better plugs now and I use so much hardware that it will be nice to move forward with this album as is. Although I have a UA mic that UA themselves essentially turned into a doorstop. It will be a donation to someone. |
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Post by andersmv on May 2, 2024 18:26:44 GMT -6
Sorry UA has done so many of you dirty. This started as a joke, this really isn’t a hill I want to die on and have no dog in this fight…
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Post by brenta on May 2, 2024 21:05:13 GMT -6
In this world three things are certain: death, taxes, and all UAD threads being devolving into people bitching about this and that.
Complaints about support, or lack of support, are legit. I guess I’ve been really lucky because I’ve only ever had to submit one ticket over several years, and the experience was fine.
I really don’t get the complaining about plugins getting cheaper over time. But I also don’t understand why anyone would have ever paid full price for a plugin or even have bought it at the intro price when you know it’s going to be on sale for a lot less if you just wait.
I’m surprised nobody has complained about the “underpowered” SHARC chips that work great and manage to power sessions full of UAD plugins for me on a regular basis.
My experience with UA has been great. I love the hardware, I love the plugins, I love the workflow, and I’ve felt like the prices have been fair as long as you wait for sales. Lots of people feel differently, and luckily there are a gazillion other options available.
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Post by kcatthedog on May 3, 2024 4:40:07 GMT -6
If I could also add some nuance to this discussion... Forgetting for a moment about who paid what for what plugins back in the day or whom is loyal to whom, I think a distinction can be made purely on what existing customers were being asked to pay NOW for future purchases versus that which new customers were being asked to pay NOW for future purchases. As an example, here somewhat recently (last year sometime), brand new customers were being offered to purchase U10 (or U11 or whatever it was at the time) for like $999. I on the other hand owned roughly 90% (~100 plugins) of the plugins in U10 (or U11 or whatever it was at the time), and you know what UA was offering me as an upgrade price to "complete the U10" bundle and purchase the remaining 15 or so plugins I didn't already own? $999. So I paid what I paid back in the day and I honestly don't care if people are getting cheaper prices now, compared to what I paid in the past. I think you and I more or less agree there. However, for FUTURE purchases, I don't think it's unreasonable for an old customer to expect to be able to pay at least the SAME per-plugin price as everyone else, whether they be new, old, or otherwise. If a new customer is paying roughly $10 per plugin on a purchase today, why am I being asked to pay $60 per plugin for a purchase I'm also making today? How does that make sense? And you know what, UA ultimately caved because they knew it was bullshit. UA handled this whole situation poorly, and created a lot of ill will among some older customers. UA is not going to get much credit for doing something that they only did because enough people complained about it. Maybe next time UA should lead with such offers to older customers instead of pissing them off with a "let them eat cake" attitude. ^^This^^ Quint, I stopped participating at UA forum so wasn’t aware that UA ‘caved’, what was its final offer ? |
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Post by kcatthedog on May 3, 2024 4:42:24 GMT -6
In this world three things are certain: death, taxes, and all UAD threads being devolving into people bitching about this and that. Complaints about support, or lack of support, are legit. I guess I’ve been really lucky because I’ve only ever had to submit one ticket over several years, and the experience was fine. I really don’t get the complaining about plugins getting cheaper over time. But I also don’t understand why anyone would have ever paid full price for a plugin or even have bought it at the intro price when you know it’s going to be on sale for a lot less if you just wait. I’m surprised nobody has complained about the “underpowered” SHARC chips that work great and manage to power sessions full of UAD plugins for me on a regular basis. My experience with UA has been great. I love the hardware, I love the plugins, I love the workflow, and I’ve felt like the prices have been fair as long as you wait for sales. Lots of people feel differently, and luckily there are a gazillion other options available. So, what part of Quint’s example, UA charging one client $1-1,000’s more for fewer plug ins do you agree with ? |
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Post by Quint on May 3, 2024 9:16:55 GMT -6
If I could also add some nuance to this discussion... Forgetting for a moment about who paid what for what plugins back in the day or whom is loyal to whom, I think a distinction can be made purely on what existing customers were being asked to pay NOW for future purchases versus that which new customers were being asked to pay NOW for future purchases. As an example, here somewhat recently (last year sometime), brand new customers were being offered to purchase U10 (or U11 or whatever it was at the time) for like $999. I on the other hand owned roughly 90% (~100 plugins) of the plugins in U10 (or U11 or whatever it was at the time), and you know what UA was offering me as an upgrade price to "complete the U10" bundle and purchase the remaining 15 or so plugins I didn't already own? $999. So I paid what I paid back in the day and I honestly don't care if people are getting cheaper prices now, compared to what I paid in the past. I think you and I more or less agree there. However, for FUTURE purchases, I don't think it's unreasonable for an old customer to expect to be able to pay at least the SAME per-plugin price as everyone else, whether they be new, old, or otherwise. If a new customer is paying roughly $10 per plugin on a purchase today, why am I being asked to pay $60 per plugin for a purchase I'm also making today? How does that make sense? And you know what, UA ultimately caved because they knew it was bullshit. UA handled this whole situation poorly, and created a lot of ill will among some older customers. UA is not going to get much credit for doing something that they only did because enough people complained about it. Maybe next time UA should lead with such offers to older customers instead of pissing them off with a "let them eat cake" attitude. ^^This^^ Quint, I stopped participating at UA forum so wasn’t aware that UA ‘caved’, what was its final offer ? I'm not gonna remember all of the details, and it wasn't a FULL cave, just a partial cave, but UA did offer a coupon or whatever it was to existing customers who owned more than "x" plugins and/or two Apollos. It was still kind of shitty because it was only valid for like two or three weeks, and maybe had some other restrictions that I'm forgetting. In any case it still continued to needlessly divide people up into arbitrary groups. An open ended, non-time-limited voucher would have been more appropriate, but I think UA saw this more as a way to squeeze more money out of long term customers, rather than as a way of actually offering a real olive branch. Anyway, now that I have U12, one ancillary benefit is that I'm just kind of checked out on paying too much attention, going forward, to sales and all of the other nonsense that UA creates in these situations. I've got everything I could want/need from the UA plugin catalog, and I kind of just don't want to pay attention anymore, other than when a new plugin occasionally comes along that I might be interested in. |
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Post by bossanova on May 3, 2024 9:29:18 GMT -6
I got an email saying that Cooper Time Cube and EMT 250 were all on sale and I started reaching for my wallet again, but then I saw that those are still non-native versions only.
I know, I don't need em. I have the 224 and I have the Nebula version of the Time Cube which should be more than sufficient given the simplicity of the design.
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Post by Drew @ UA on May 3, 2024 9:45:46 GMT -6
^^This^^ Quint, I stopped participating at UA forum so wasn’t aware that UA ‘caved’, what was its final offer ? I'm not gonna remember all of the details, and it wasn't a FULL cave, just a partial cave, but UA did offer a coupon or whatever it was to existing customers who owned more than "x" plugins and/or two Apollos. It was still kind of shitty because it was only valid for like two or three weeks, and maybe had some other restrictions that I'm forgetting. In any case it still continued to needlessly divide people up into arbitrary groups. An open ended, non-time-limited voucher would have been more appropriate, but I think UA saw this more as a way to squeeze more money out of long term customers, rather than as a way of actually offering a real olive branch. Anyway, now that I have U12, one ancillary benefit is that I'm just kind of checked out on paying too much attention, going forward, to sales and all of the other nonsense that UA creates in these situations. I've got everything I could want/need from the UA plugin catalog, and I kind of just don't want to pay attention anymore, other than when a new plugin occasionally comes along that I might be interested in. I can help Quint. UA didn't cave. I saw that long term users were not getting pricing they wanted when compared to the native deals we were offering new users. I convened a "user panel" and gathered ideas and crafted offers based on them. Myself and my team created the coupons and emails and sent them out. They turned out to be some of the most successful promos in the company's history, bringing in record revenue in Feb and March. There were no restrictions to these offers other than time. They were so successful that I am contemplating bringing them back at some point, likely in the doldrums of Summer. Hope this helps. |
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Post by Johnkenn on May 3, 2024 10:12:04 GMT -6
OK - I gotta lot to say on this. I agree with andersmv - this ain't the hill I'm dying on. But first:  I've owned UA products since 2003. If I had to guess, I've probably had 1-2 problems a year with UAD stuff. In the past, I could call UA and get a tech on the phone. Obviously, that has changed. I guess when I feel like I'm getting the shaft, I chalk it up to a learning lesson. When I saw long time customers being treated the same as brand new ones - yeah - kind've rubbed me the wrong way. Que sera sera, right? Life ain't always fair, and it's not like these aren't doing the job regardless of what price you bought it for. But - it seems like the company is getting stretched in a thousand directions. How many compelling new plugins in the last 2 years? (not many) How many new guitar pedals? (a lot) What about updates - and that's kind of a thing for me after owning the AxeFX and Cliff IMPROVING the thing for free with updates nearly every Friday. (It's the best CS and company I've ever bought from.) Roughly - how long have we had MKII's for a lot of the plugs? Some of them haven't been updated in a decade. You're telling me a computer can now create a complete song and production in seconds but we mastered the code for this 33609 10 years ago and that's as close to it as we will ever get? I don't believe that. THAT'S what has been driving me away from UA. After I started using the Pulsar 1178, I only really touch the UA 76's when I'm looking for a crunch/color. Otherwise, I think the Pulsar sounds better. And there are a lot of other examples. Now - I get that UA can look at this and think we're ungrateful bastards - but I've probably paid them well over $20k over the years. So I expect to be treated as a priority customer. I'm not - and I own a forum that draws 6 million pairs of eyes a year. (Why am I not making any damn money? I'm a terrible business man.) Drew @universalaudio has been very generous to me - even made a video twice and sent it to me to try and help with some issue. He's a front facing guy at UA...and while I'm sure he gets it from all sides...it can be prickly sometimes. It just is what it is, folks. |
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Post by Quint on May 3, 2024 10:12:06 GMT -6
I'm not gonna remember all of the details, and it wasn't a FULL cave, just a partial cave, but UA did offer a coupon or whatever it was to existing customers who owned more than "x" plugins and/or two Apollos. It was still kind of shitty because it was only valid for like two or three weeks, and maybe had some other restrictions that I'm forgetting. In any case it still continued to needlessly divide people up into arbitrary groups. An open ended, non-time-limited voucher would have been more appropriate, but I think UA saw this more as a way to squeeze more money out of long term customers, rather than as a way of actually offering a real olive branch. Anyway, now that I have U12, one ancillary benefit is that I'm just kind of checked out on paying too much attention, going forward, to sales and all of the other nonsense that UA creates in these situations. I've got everything I could want/need from the UA plugin catalog, and I kind of just don't want to pay attention anymore, other than when a new plugin occasionally comes along that I might be interested in. I can help Quint. UA didn't cave. I saw that long term users were not getting pricing they wanted when compared to the native deals we were offering new users. I convened a "user panel" and gathered ideas and crafted offers based on them. Myself and my team created the coupons and emails and sent them out. They turned out to be some of the most successful promos in the company's history, bringing in record revenue in Feb and March. There were no restrictions to these offers other than time. They were so successful that I am contemplating bringing them back at some point, likely in the doldrums of Summer. Hope this helps. There's a bit of inconsistency, contextual pieces of info you've left out, and rose colored glasses going on here in your synopsis, but I'm not gonna bother going down this road with you again Drew. The thread on the UAD forum is there for people to go and decide for themselves. We don't need to relitigate this here. And you can call it what you want, but UA didn't want to relent on pricing for older customers, but then finally did after enough complaints were lodged. If it walks like a cave, and talks like a cave, and has bats like a cave, well.... it's a cave. The thing is, I don't know why you or UA have to view this as such a negative? What is so wrong with UA admitting it was wrong, and then doing something about it? The ceaseless insistence that UA is infallible has been part of the problem. |
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Post by Johnkenn on May 3, 2024 10:27:36 GMT -6
I'm not gonna remember all of the details, and it wasn't a FULL cave, just a partial cave, but UA did offer a coupon or whatever it was to existing customers who owned more than "x" plugins and/or two Apollos. It was still kind of shitty because it was only valid for like two or three weeks, and maybe had some other restrictions that I'm forgetting. In any case it still continued to needlessly divide people up into arbitrary groups. An open ended, non-time-limited voucher would have been more appropriate, but I think UA saw this more as a way to squeeze more money out of long term customers, rather than as a way of actually offering a real olive branch. Anyway, now that I have U12, one ancillary benefit is that I'm just kind of checked out on paying too much attention, going forward, to sales and all of the other nonsense that UA creates in these situations. I've got everything I could want/need from the UA plugin catalog, and I kind of just don't want to pay attention anymore, other than when a new plugin occasionally comes along that I might be interested in. I can help Quint. UA didn't cave. I saw that long term users were not getting pricing they wanted when compared to the native deals we were offering new users. I convened a "user panel" and gathered ideas and crafted offers based on them. Myself and my team created the coupons and emails and sent them out. They turned out to be some of the most successful promos in the company's history, bringing in record revenue in Feb and March. There were no restrictions to these offers other than time. They were so successful that I am contemplating bringing them back at some point, likely in the doldrums of Summer. Hope this helps. I mean - thanks? Those were good offers...but I've already purchased (most were triple digits) everything I want. Why would I pay $299 for 10 plugs I don't want or need? I didn't use it. Here's the deal: UA feels like they're pursuing the right direction. Some of us feel a bit "burned" because this was a fundamental change in strategy for UA. This is the perception - UA used to be perceived as "they're expensive, but you pay for quality. The DSP tech is better and CS is great." I bought into that hook, line and sinker. And it was that way for a long time. Now - I have to admit - my perception of the plugs are different. Other companies are surpassing the tech, exceedingly rare sonic updates and Phat Beatz just bought a plug for $29 that I paid almost 10x the amount for. I understand the counter argument...yes, the plugs still work, everything always gets cheaper blah blah blah. But I do think this has changed how I feel about UA. I understand their view, but I have to do what's best for myself and if UA no longer offers that, then I'd be out. |
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